Warriors of Art: A Guide to
Contemporary Japanese Artists by
Yumi Yamaguchi
Great Overview With Beautiful Visuals
Recently the West has been inundated by a steady flow of images from
manga, anime, and the video games that are a key part of todays
Japanese visual culture. At the same time, Japanese contemporary artists
are gaining a higher profile overseas: many Westerners are already
familiar with Takashi Murakamis brightly colored, cartoonlike characters, or
with Junko Mizunos grotes-cute Lolita-style girls. Perhaps less familiar are
the absurd fighting machines of Kenji Yanobe, the many disguises of
Tomoko Sawada, or the grotesque fairytale landscapes of Tomoko
Konoike. Warriors of Art features the work of forty of the latest and most
relevant contemporary Japanese artists, from painters and sculptors, to
photographers and performance artists, with lavish full-color spreads of
their key works. Author Yumi Yamaguchi offers an insightful introduction to
the main themes of each artist, and builds up a fascinating portrait of the
society that has given birth to them: a Japan that still bears the scars of
atomic destruction, a Japan with a penchant for the cute and the childish, a
Japan whose manga and anime industries have come to dominate the
world.

Warriors of Art takes its title from a phrase used to describe Taro
Okamoto (1911-1996), perhaps the first truly influential contemporary artist
to emerge in postwar Japan, who fought to bring modern art to a wider
audience. Following in Okamotos footsteps, the forty artists featured in this
book are a new generation of warriors, attacking our senses with a
shocking mix of the cute, the grotesque, the sexy, and the violent, forcing
us to sit up and take notice of their vision of Japan.
Personal Review: Warriors of Art: A Guide to Contemporary
Japanese Artists by Yumi Yamaguchi
Most people think of Japanese art as either the woodblock prints of the
Edo period or modern manga. It appears that this is entirely appropriates,
as modern Japanese art is some sort of strange marriage of the two.
I saw Murakami Takashi's "Superflat" exhibition in Seattle in 2001. At the
time, I was shocked at how deeply anime and manga culture had shaped
modern Japanese art. Although American comic books had some
influence on fine art during the 1950s Pop Art movement and especially
with artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, this was a whole different level. This
was not just a self-conscious and ironic blending of high and low art. This
was removing all barriers between the two, elevating art created for
popular consumption to the level of gallery exhibition.
"Warriors of Art" shows that Murakami's Superflat Manifesto is very much
alive, and dominating the Japanese art scene. Many of the young artists in
this book have been hand-picked by Murakami, molded and shaped into
his image. You can see his name all over the artist's profiles. But
Murakami and his proteges are only continuing a tradition. The mix of
child/adult sexuality, the erotic/grotesque imagery, even the heavy black
line and bright colors, are all carried over from periods of Japanese art
hundreds of years earlier.
Not that everyone in "Warriors of Art" comes from Murakami's school.
Some, like Nara Yoshiitomo, are heavy hitters in their own right. Nara's
paintings have been featured on CD covers for the band Shonen Knife,
and have been exhibited all over the world. Others, like photographers
Sawada Tomoko, Suzuki Ryoko, Yanagi Miwa and Morimura Yasumasa,
all seem to be heavily influenced by Cindy Sherman with her self-portraits
in various identities. It was interesting to note that, while this influence is
readily apparent to anyone who has studied Art History, it was not
commented on in the book.
Contemporary Japanese art is also influencing contemporary world art.
One thing that can been seen amongst the works of various artists in
"Warriors of Art" is the Japanese tendency to create characters, and to use
these characters repetitiously in their works. Graffiti artist Banksy has
adopted this motif, learning that the repetition of familiarity allows an
instant entrance for viewers who might otherwise be put off by the
discordant imagery. Some of these characters take on a life of their own,

as Okazaki Takashi's "Afro Samurai" was later used as the basis for an
animated series and a live-action film.
My personal favorite pieces in "Warriors of Art" where the ones that
combine multiple influences, such as Aida Makoto's "The Giant Member
Fuji versus King Gidora" which re-creates Hokusai Katsushika's infamous
print "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" recasting it with Ultraman
heroin Fuji Akiko and Godzilla's nemesis King Gidora. Tabaimo's piece
"public conVENience" makes the wholly appropriate comparison of the
internet to public restrooms. Both are places entirely open to the public,
yet within very private and personal activities take place.
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